Ag-planes, jets and more churrascarias

Tuesday morning, Eduardo Roche from AgroFly picked up Marcelo, Gina and myself from the San Silverstre Hotel for a 50 km (30 miles) drive from Passo Fundo to Tapajara where one of AgroFly’s airstrips are located. AgroFly was started by the Bee (pronounced “Bay”) family from its seed company. Today, AgroFly operates five Ipanema aircraft and is part of a family of four companies with Bee being the parent company; included are also SupportFly and LogFly. 

SupportFly is a general and ag aviation maintenance company based in Passo Fundo. LogFly is an aviation management company that administers a new Brazilian Phenom 300 jet and a Citation II, along with a twin-engine Vulcanair manufactured in Italy, a G58 Baron, a Cirrus SR22 and Cessna 172 XP Hawk. The administration includes charter, maintenance provisions, scheduling and pilots. 

Members of AgroFly: Carlitos Bee on the left and Eduardo Roche on the right

After lunch, Eduardo arranged for a short VFR flight in the Vulcanair to return us from Passo Fundo to Cachoeira do Sul (CdoSul). Although the South American countries all along the 30th parallel has been experiencing an extreme drought with an almost total loss of corn, except as its value as silage and greater than 50% yield reductions with other crops, the Vulcanair was challenged finding its way back to CdoSul weaving between numerous rain showers. 

Gina has three sons; one is a lawyer, another a dentist and another is in medical school to be a family physician. Last year, while in CdoSul, Gina’s son, Tiago the dentist, gave my teeth a cleaning and check up. Tuesday night, again, Dr. Tiago cleaned my teeth and has offered to whiten “with a drill” (?) tooth number 12 on Thursday night. Tiago’s office is connected Gina’s house, but is very modern and relatively new. I graciously accepted his offer!   

Tuesday evening, after the teeth cleaning, I attended a churrascria at the home of Pelopidas and Roberta Bernardi. Roberta is also a dentist like Tiago, and Pelopidas owns PBA Aviation, which is an Ipanema dealer, as well as used aircraft sales. PBA Aviation sells ag-aircraft throughout the southern half of South America and is very successful. His father is Laudelino Bernardi, who has a flying service with about 10-12 Ipanemas working rice, corn and soybeans in CdoSul. Mr. Bernardi also has an ag-pilot school, Agricola Aviation Santos Dumont. His focus in all his decades of flying has been safety. With the company logging over 5,000 hours a season on average, training and spraying, the company, according to Pelopidas, has never “spilt blood”, meaning no pilot has ever been hurt flying for  Mr. Bernardi. 

The evening ended near midnight. Wednesday promises to be a busy day with a 500 km (300 miles) drive to Uruguaiana, Brazil. This is a large area for ag-aviation, very close to the Uruguayan and Argentine borders. Be sure to check back for the details. 

Ready to depart in a new $9M Phenom 300 (yeah, right!)

Until then, 
Keep Turning

The week begins in Brazil

Monday morning, January 23, started in Cachoeira do Sul (CdoSul) doing some minor banking business. After lunch, AgroFly, a flying service north of CdoSul, sent a pilot to pick me up in a Cessna 182 for the flight to Passo Fundo, about 100 nm north of CdoSul. In Passo Fundo, I met with Dalton Schlichting of the Aeroclube de Carazinho where he operates a CAVAG, an acronym for a certified agricultural aviation school. 

In Brazil, ag-pilots are required to complete an ag rating after they acquire their commercial pilot’s license. The course is very intense with about  30 flight hours and more than 100 ground school hours. The ANAC (the Brazilian FAA) provides a manual that certified schools must follow that spells in detail what each 30 minute flight mission must accomplish. 

Later that afternoon, after a welcome rain shower in the 95°F+ (36°C) temperature, Dalton drove Gina and me to Passo Fundo, about 50 km (30 miles) away. Accompanying us was one of AgAir Update’s Brazilian writers, Marcelo Drescher. Marcelo writes the “Volare” column. He is a certified agronomist and teaches at the Aeroclube de Carazinho, but lives in CdoSul. His English is very good and he helps Gina with the translating. 

After arriving in Passo Fundo, and checking into the San Silvestre Hotel we met with one of the ArgoFly principals, Eduardo Rocha. Eduardo took us to a nice churrascaria (Brazilian barbecue) for dinner. 

Tuesday, January 24 and we are waiting for the day to start. The plan is for Eduardo to pick us up at the hotel and take us to his offices. Once the interview for the article is complete, he will have his pilot fly us back to CdoSul where another Brazilian barbecue is planned at the home of Pelopidas Bernardi, owner of PBA, an ag aircraft dealer for the Ipanema and other used ag aircraft.  

A summertime trip to southern Brazil

Unique to this year, the Louisiana AAA trade show was moved to an earlier week in January. This created a two-week time window that opened up a first-time opportunity for me to travel in Brazil during its summer. The Mississippi AAA convention ended on Thursday and 24 hours later I was starting the additional 24-hour journey to the south of Brazil, Cachoeira do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul State. 

My normal route departs Atlanta, connects in Miami, then on to Sao Paulo with another connection to Porto Alegre. However, when I tried to book a ticket, the price was outlandish. I got creative and booked one flight from Atlanta to Montevideo, Uruguay on American Airlines. Then a completely separate flight on Pluna Airlines from Montevideo to Porto Alegre, Brazil. That saved about $700, but in the process created another whole set of challenges. I’ll save telling those for another day. 

I have two representatives in Brazil, Ernesto Franzen and Gina Hickmann. Ernesto’s real job is a federal policeman and he lives in Porto Alegre. For ten years though, he was an ag-pilot in Brazil. Gina is a school principal, teaches English and lives west of Porto Alegre in Cachoeira do Sul (CdoSul).

Ernesto met me at the Porto Alegre airport. We went to his mother’s apartment to unpack. For dinner, we enjoyed a very nice churrascaria at “Nao Brasil” restaurant. The following day, Ernesto kindly drove me the 2.5 hours of hard driving to CdoSul. Believe me when I say it is good to be riding with a federal policeman on Brazilian roads.

I have traveled to CdoSul numerous times. When you enter the city by car, you pass under a large entrance sign that reads, “The National Capital of Rice” (of course, it is in Portuguese). 

Gina is very good at arranging visits for me. Sometimes these visits are not ag-aviation related, as was my first day and night in CdoSul. By now, it is Sunday afternoon. I left Georgia Friday afternoon. Monday will start a week of visits to operators in southern Brazil. However, not before Gina has her opportunity to entertain me Brazilian-style. 

First, I go to her family’s river cabin for the afternoon. They have a large barbecue and a couple of boats to water ski; not unlike families do in America. Afterwards, I returned to the hotel to freshen up so that I can attend a celebration at a samba school. Samba is a traditional Brazilian dance that is highlighted during the annual Brazilian carnival held in February. This school teaches children in a poor area of town the dance and how to play the drums for the dancing. It is really something to see. This all starts at 10p. Eating and entertainment is always a late night thing in Brazil! 

Tomorrow, I will rent a Cessna 182 and visit an ag-pilot school in a city to the north, Carazinho. Good night! 

Evaluating the 4-blade 510G Thrush

Yesterday, I had the privilege to travel to the Thrush Aircraft factory in Albany, Georgia to attend its employee and customer Thanksgiving appreciation lunch, as well as fly the yet to be certified 510G Thrush. I enjoyed flying the aircraft more than the lunch, however the fresh caught Georgia fried catfish were superb.

I had flown the GE-powered 510-gallon Thrush almost a year ago at AgAir Update’s Open House and Hangar Party. Then, it had the same 3-blade Hartzell propeller as the P&WC PT6A-34 510 Thrush with the exception the GE prop was shot peened. Dennie Stokes also flew it that day and we felt the aircraft did not have the “get up and go” on takeoff for 800 SHP. This time, at the Thrush factory, the 510G had a 4-blade Hartzell propeller. This prop was the fourth generation of propellers fitted to the H80 engine for the Thrush. 

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the performance of the H80 510G Thrush. Flying it with an empty hopper and 228 gallons of fuel on board for the first load, there was no doubt on takeoff the aircraft had “get up and go”. I found the 510G to be about 10 MPH faster than its sister 510P. At 500 feet AGL, 160+ MPH was easy enough to obtain with 90% torque and 1,900 RPM. Full 800 SHP is 100% torque and 2,080 RPMs.

Satisfied with the empty performance of the 510G, I made another load with 350 gallons and I guess about 200 gallons of fuel. The Electronics International MPV-50 instrument gauge (which is the cat’s meow) does not indicate any more than 82 gallons per side, but neither does the old analog fuel indicators, pegging full at about 80 gallons per side.

The true purpose of flying the aircraft with only 350 gallons was to loosen the rust on this ag-pilot’s skills. I can’t remember the last time I flew an ag-plane after running the hopper over on the tarmac. So, I felt it prudent to fly with a piece of a load, just to be sure the “like riding a bicycle, you never forget” saying held true with flying a loaded ag-plane. It did.

For the third load, the fuel level was still somewhere above the indicated 164 gallons and I ran the hopper over onto the tarmac with water. Taxiing out, the aircraft felt like any heavily loaded aircraft with its gross weight somewhere over 10,000 (4,800 empty weight + 1,080 pounds of fuel + 200 pounds of pilot + 4,080 pounds of water = 10,160). The 510G is certified for a maximum gross weight of 10,800 pounds. With water, it would be next to impossible to exceed that limit. Really doesn’t matter, because the aircraft has the ability to carry far more than 10,800 pounds.

Adding power to 100% torque and 2,080 RPMs for takeoff, the tail was up at 1,300 feet and the aircraft was off the ground at about 1,700 feet climbing steadily at 100 MPH. However, there was a reported 7-8 knot headwind and the outside temperature was 74dF. In my opinion, the advantages of the wind and temperature were easily offset by this out-of-practice pilot. No doubt a current Thrush pilot could easily beat my numbers.

I ferried the 510G to the field using 90% torque and 1,900 RPMs. My IAS was 160 MPH, loaded. I used the same power setting for the spray runs and found myself moving across the field at 165-170 MPH. I know the general rule is that airspeed is about 25 MPH faster than the ideal airspeed for spraying, considering the spray pattern. In the case of the 510G, that has been disproved by USDA spray pattern analysis that indicate application speeds up to 180 MPH are acceptable. The pattern may be acceptable, but the pilot better be up to speed too; the trees are coming at you pretty fast.

The fuel flow on the MPV-50 was not calibrated to the GE H80. I know this because it was reading 35 GPH at high power settings. Jody Bays, vice-president of Thrush Aircraft and test pilot, told me I was burning about 80-85 gallons an hour. That’s a lot of fuel, but you are traveling pretty fast. If you can justify the fuel burn, a degree of time can be made up in the ferries. After my 350-gallon load, I believe once the load is worked down, most pilots will reduce the power to about 80% torque and save the fuel.

At Jody’s request, I had previously stalled the aircraft at altitude before approaching a stall in the turns with a load. He was correct in that the aircraft is a gentle giant in that it simply does not do anything unusual in the stalling configuration. I took it to full stall empty, but admit I only approached to a stall (horn blaring, stick slightly mushy) loaded in the turns. Who in their right mind would want to be in a relatively steep turn, loaded and stall the aircraft, not to mention I was low to the ground. There is no reason to fully stall the aircraft loaded and turning; the aircraft gives you plenty of warning beforehand.

I could find zero wrong with the aircraft, except maybe, it needs a bigger hopper. It flies like a dream, not unlike the older, short wing, 400-gallon, rag tail, -34 Thrushes, except it has a 25% larger hopper, double the fuel capacity and will out run the older Thrush like “a scalded dog”. I’m willing to bet the 510G will outrun any Thrush...

Read more about this fabulous (coming from a 20-year Thrush pilot) aircraft in the January edition of AgAir Update.

Until then, Keep Turning...

Bill 

AgAir Update to Equador, Day 2

Today is Wednesday, around noontime, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Yesterday, I met with Aerovic, whom AgAir Update featured on its cover earlier this year (Thrushes in Equador, AgAir Update May 2011). Captain Jose Cabrera, Aerovic’s Operations Manager, greeted me. It was good to meet the man the article featured, along with the company. Aerovic is one of the larger aerial application companies with a long history in Ecuador. It operates 10 turbine Thrush and treats about 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) a year of bananas, along with some rice and sugar cane work. Typical application rates on bananas, at 1.5 to 2.0 gallons per acre are $9 to $12 USD. 

After leaving Captain Cabrera, I was able to meet with Tita, our “contact” lady. She introduced us to her boss, Xavier Pérez-MacCollum, that owns and operates ARICA, a general aviation maintenance and avionics shop, as well as a Robinson Helicopter dealer. Xavier welcomed me, although I had no specific business with him, he was kind enough to allow me to work with Tita. 

That wrapped up the day. Enjoyed an excellent dinner at El Caracol Azul (The Blue Shell), supposedly (according to TripAdvisor) the number two restaurant in Guayaquil. I believe it. Very affordable and excellent food and service. I had the covina (sea bass). Unbelievable. Good sea bass comes from the deep waters of the southern Pacific along the coast line of South America. 

This morning, I visited with LAN Ecuador. This company, also a very large operation, has one AT-402, two turbo Thrush and five turbo Ag-Cats (Mills Conversions from Mid-Continent Aircraft Sales & Service). It treats about 75,000 hectares a month (185,000 acres) during the five busy months of the season and about 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) a month the other seven months of the year, that comes to about 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) a year, plus rice and sugar cane. The bananas spraying makes up about 90% of their applications. 

My hosts were Captain Xavier Moya, Chief of Ag-Operations and Johny Ricardo, Chief of Maintenance. They were very kind to stop their morning’s work and explain to me how the company operated. 

Founded in 1954 by Luis Adolfo Noboa, LAN Ecuador is not affiliated with LAN Chile airlines, or LAN ECU airline, a division of LAN Chile airlines. Oddly enough, when the airline moved into Ecuador, it had to pay LAN Ecuador for using its similar name! 

There’s a really good sushi bar across the street, Noe, where I plan to have a light lunch. With Guayaquil so close to the Pacific Ocean, the seafood found here is excellent. 


So, time to close out this blog. Tomorrow, I return to the United States, take a day of rest and then will be at the Duster Doin’s being held Saturday at Mark Gary’s airstrip in Inverness, Mississippi. I hope to see ya there! 

Bien Dia from Ecuador!

A couple of months ago, Grant Lane (often times a travel partner) asked me if I would like to accompany him and his Latin American sales rep, Pat Kornegay, to Ecuador. My answer should have been obvious to him, as of all the tens of times I had traveled to Latin America, from Spain to Cuba to throughout Central and South America, I had yet to visit Ecuador. Yes, when? 

Lane Aviation has a large customer who is based in Guayaquil. He needed to visit with this customer, as well as other operators. This is a perfect arrangement for me to meet AgAir Update readers as well as gather more operator articles. Another customer of Grant’s, Rob Price, arranged for him to meet Tita Costa Alvear, who has arranged for two or three more operator meetings during our travel. 

Setting up travel in Latin America is very different from other parts of the world. It is part of the culture to not be very specific. We Americans, at least me, want to know where we are going before we leave. When we departed the U.S., the only visit for sure was with a large ag-operator, AIFA. Tita had been sent emails requesting her help, but no response. We had three days set aside to visit, but only one operator assured, which would only take half a day. 

Today is Tuesday, our second work day in Ecuador. For trips like this, I like to travel to my destination arriving a day early to get my bearings and basically rest for the intense days to follow. We departed the U.S. on Saturday, taking 14 hours of travel to arrive at GYE, seven hours in the air and seven hours of layovers, etc. 

Yesterday, we had a great visit with AIFA. This large ag-operation has over 200 employees with both a flying operation (about 15 a/c) and sell chemicals to the banana plantations. During our visit, at AIFA, bumped into Juan Philips of TAD and Terry Humphrey of Thrush Aircraft Company. Small world, with none of us knowing the other would be in Ecuador, much less that day! Juan and Terry were there to provide training to AIFA pilots in the company’s dual cockpit Thrush. AIFA is in the process of opening an ag-school. There is a five to eight student demand because of a shortage of Ecuadorian pilots. Traditionally, only Ecuadorian pilots fly ag. 

Later in the morning, Grant, Pat and I departed from AIFA’s maintenance facility at GYE in the company Seneca for a short 20-minute flight north to Estrella. This airstrip is in the middle of large banana plantations with three competing operators on it. AIFA treats 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) from Estrella. This is only about a one-third of all the bananas the company sprays from five different airstrips. 

Time to wolf down some breakfast, then off to meet Tita and whoever the operators are she has lined up for us today.


Follow photos of the trip on AgAir Update's Facebook page.

Until next time, Blue Sky and Tailwinds...

AgAir Update to Brazil - Final

Wednesday evening

Wednesday evening the XX SINDAG Mercosul Aviacion Agricola Congress opened with several hundred in attendance. Awards were given to individuals who had made contributions to Latin American ag-aviation during the last year, of which yours truly received one.

Thursday, Day 5 - The conference started at 9 am with multiple speakers throughout the day and the exhibit hall open all day, as well. Working a trade show exhibit hall for 10 hours straight for two days can be tiring, but necessary. This is where I meet old friends from past visits and make new ones. It also provides me an opportunity to work with clients that are exhibiting.

I’m not sure how many ag-pilots were in attendance. I do know the exhibit hall was full the first day and guess there were around 400 pilots. There were 40+ exhibitors. Trade shows in Latin America are considerably different from other countries. For one thing, it is common for exhibitors to have extremely beautiful Brazilian models at their booths. Usually, there is an air show as was both days of this convention. Often, the air show pilots are ag-pilots. This year there was a Decathlon, Extra 300 and Christian Eagle performing over the beach. Flight rules must be a bit different for aerobatics in Brazil, because the aircraft flew over the crowd, hotel and exhibit hall on the deck. When the exhibit hall finally closed, it was time to socialize at the bar and during dinner.

Friday, Day 6 - Had more speakers and the exhibit hall is open throughout the day. It is not as busy as the first day, so this gives me time to visit with exhibitors. Since my Spanish and Portuguese is almost nonexistent, I have my Brazilian rep, Gina, translate for me. “Lost in the translation” can easily happen. I have to be extremely careful my message is clear and will translate as I intend for it.

The convention came to a close with a “Magic Samba” show. This is a traditional band with Samba dancers. You would have to be there to appreciate it. The music is deafening and the dancers are talented and scantly clad.

Saturday, Day 7 - The day to return home. It has been seven days of hard traveling and intense work. Things are always more difficult in a foreign land, although I love my travels wherever they take me. The trek home started at 8a in the morning after checking out of the hotel. The ride to the airport took an hour. I always allow extra time when traveling outside the U.S. I never know what may go amiss.

The flight from Florianopolis to Sao Paulo was quick, only 50 minutes and by noon, I was collecting my luggage at baggage claim. Since I was using two different airlines, I had to recheck my luggage for the flight back to the United States. The return is easier on my pocketbook. I used duffle bags that fold into a suitcase to get my total bag number down from four to two, thus not having to pay for excess luggage.

I had over nine hours to kill before my night flight home departed at 9.30p. With my luggage, I caught an airport hotel shuttle that I have used before and know that the hotel has a good restaurant and will allow me to use its lobby. Late afternoon, I took the shuttle back to the airport, allowing more than enough time to do a little shopping and checking in with the airline.

I arrived at 5a in Miami and cleared immigration and customs before connecting on another flight at 6.50a for Atlanta. I arrive in Atlanta at 8.40a. Now, it is only two more hours before I am home at last.

Sunday is Day 8 and it is Father’s Day. My two grown children and young grandson spent the day with me and I had dinner that night with my father. Life is good...